A Flash of Cold
by DianneRose2016
Summary: Set after season 2X11 Full Summary Inside. Barry is having a hard time after everything that had happened since the singularity. He was realizing how much sacrifices he would have to make to ensure that this city was safe. Snart tries to show Barry that he doesn't have to do it alone. That there is someone that could handle the life. Will be a Cold/Flash pairing eventually.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: So this is going to be set after Season 2 episode 11 where the Reverse Flash shows up and they have to send him back to the future. This is going to be a Barry/Snart story so there is slash and characters will be a little OOC because they will be bi-sexual after all. The relationship will start as friendship and build from there. There is just something about Snart recently that I really like. And who could hate a bad boy?**_

 _ **Summary: Barry is having a hard time after everything that had happened since the singularity. Having to send the Reverse Flash back to the future and losing Patty all in the same day was just too much for the Speedster to handle. It was fully sinking in just how lonely this way of life was going to be. Just how much sacrifice he would have to make to ensure that this city was safe. Snart tries to show Barry that he doesn't have to do it alone. That there is someone that could handle the life.**_

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Chapter 1

It was one in the morning and Barry was sitting on the edge of a building looking out at Central City. He found that he couldn't seem to settle down long enough to sleep so he went out for a walk and ended up running up here to be alone. He was feeling anxious, but not in a bored way. In a more so this is my life sort of way. He had said goodbye to Patty and once he got back home he found that he just couldn't stay still. Joe had gone to bed and nothing criminal seemed to be going on tonight for Barry to focus on and get his mind off of the past year really. Ever since the singularity had destroyed half of the city and had killed two of his friends Barry had been struggling. He allowed everyone to be back in the Flash business, because he was better with them and they had been able to survive a great deal. It had only helped the guilt slightly and the weight on his shoulders was heavier than ever now.

They were still getting Metahumans from a different world coming through to kill him. Zoom had successfully kicked his ass without even trying really. No matter what he did he couldn't seem to run fast enough and every second that went by that he wasn't fast enough was another second Zoom was out there destroying a whole other Earth. It didn't matter that they weren't people he knew, they were still people, still human beings on that Earth. Whether it was his Earth or not it was still his responsibility to help free them from the destruction and death that Zoom brought to them. The weight was slowly becoming unbearable. Barry knew he could talk about it with Joe, but at the same time he just couldn't talk to him. How do you tell someone that was proud of you that some days you just don't want to put the suit on? How do you tell someone that some days he didn't want to be the Flash? That it was just too much to handle all of the time. Barry knew that what he was doing was for the good of a lot of people, but sometimes he just wanted to be Barry Allen and not the Flash. He didn't know how he was ever going to have a life outside of the running.

Barry was brought out of his thoughts when the door to the roof opened. He was shocked and annoyed when he saw that it was Captain Cold standing there on the other side.

"Great." Barry mumbled to himself.

"Fancy meeting you here Red." Snart said in that usual velvet purr of a voice.

Barry looked back over to him and saw that he had his cold gun in a holster on his right thigh, but instead of the parka and googles he just had on a simple black leather jacket.

"What are you doing here Snart? Looking for a fight?" Barry asked annoyed.

"I could ask you the same thing. You are trespassing after all. Didn't figure you to be one to break the law." Snart said as he walked over to the edge of the building and leaned his arms against the brick wall edging the building rooftop.

"I don't think the owner would care, besides it's not like the owner would even know that I'm here."

"Why are you here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was just looking to be alone with my thoughts. What store are you here to steal from?"

"None. Security called me when they saw someone sitting on the roof. He sent me the picture and I saw it was you. Wasn't going to come, but you looked miserable in the picture. Misery doesn't look good on you Red."

"Why would security call you?" Barry asked confused.

"They wouldn't be any good if they didn't call the owner when someone was trespassing on my property."

"Wait owner? You own this place?" Barry asked shocked.

"Yes I do."

"Do I even want to know how?" Barry said with worry at who Snart might have stolen or killed for this place.

"I bought it from the previous owner with my own money. He was going under and now he is sitting comfortably in Florida on the beach for the rest of his life."

"Am I in a different reality? Did I somehow walk into a breach and now I'm in Earth 2?" Barry asked confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're Captain Cold, you're a criminal, you've killed people, you killed your own father. Yet here you are owning a building that you bought with money. You're not wearing that blue parka and the goggles. What the hell is going on with you?" Barry asked confused, but also interested in the answer as this was not the Captain Cold he had encountered in the past.

"The parka and the goggles I don't need anymore. I've modified my cold gun so it doesn't emanate cold air. Without the cold air I don't need the parka to keep warm or the goggles to protect my eyes from damage. As for the rest of it, it's all your fault really." Snart said with a smirk.

"How is it my fault? And how did you modify the gun that Cisco made?"

"I do have a genius IQ. Watching Ramon working on it taught me a lot. The rest comes from the Internet."

"That still doesn't answer my question about how it's my fault." Barry pressed.

"By reminding me of my secret." Snart said and Barry knew what he was talking about.

"Your sister." Barry stated.

"After I left your house Christmas Eve I knew things had changed. I was changing or maybe becoming what I was always supposed to be if I never had gotten stuck with my father. Do you ever do that? Wonder what your life would have been like if your mother hadn't been killed?"

"Ya all the time. Don't get me wrong I love Joe and Iris. I love working in the CCPD Lab. But ya I wonder what my life would have been like if my parents raised me. What I would be doing. I think it's natural to do that." Barry said calmly.

"I was six when he started to take me with him on jobs. I had little hands so I could get into the wiring on the security systems. I never wanted to be in that world, but I was fourteen when I got caught for the first time. He left me behind so he could get away. I went to Juvi for six months after that it was all downhill I guess you could say. He didn't pay any bills and Lisa she was so young and innocent. I stole to pay the bills and make sure she had food. I got her up every morning, fed her breakfast, walked her to school. I picked her up every day after school did her homework together and made her dinner. I did what I could to protect her from him. I didn't always succeed in keeping her safe from him. There were many times I came home and she was in her room crying because he had attacked her. There were a lot of broken bones and bruises back then. I was seventeen when he was finally arrested and Lisa was twelve. Detective West was there that night."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"He didn't call Social Services like he was supposed to. He let me keep Lisa. He couldn't bring himself to break us apart he said. I did everything growing up to keep my sister safe. To make sure she had the best life I could give her. For a long time I forgot about that. I was turning cold just like him. So I left and headed for London and pulled one last job on my own."

"Do I even want to know what you stole?"

"Not important. I went in solo and pulled it off. Afterwards I went and found Lisa and brought her back here. I paid my debt to society."

"Meaning you bribed a judge to let you go free." Barry said with a smirk.

"A debt paid is a debt paid Barry. Then I bought this place for a cool two point five million a month ago."

"Is that how long you've been back in town?"

"It is."

"Why here? You could have gone anywhere, why settle here?"

"We grew up here and there is this annoying kid running around in red all the time. It's hard to pull off a job with him around." Snart said with a smirk.

"So what you are saying is I'm keeping you in line." Barry said with a smile.

"Maybe, besides whenever we feel the need for a little violence and fun we can just hunt down some Metahuman to take out. Lisa enjoys the thrill."

"You're going to ruin your reputation if you do that."

"Reputations are meant to be remade."

"What are you going to be doing with this place then?"

"The top floor is being renovated into a condo for myself. Lisa is going on the next floor down followed by one for Mick. The building is going to have a restaurant and shops on different floors. Office space on another. The first three floors is going to be a large night club. Lisa is loving all the decorating and design of it all. I haven't seen her smile this much in a very long time. We both went two weeks ago and wrote our GEDs, now we have a high school diploma. She's even talking about going to college for a business program." Snart said with a proud smile.

"Wow good for you both. That's really great Snart." Barry said with a warm smile.

"I owe you one for it. People shouldn't be defined by their past and for a very long time I forgot that. I'm still bad, but I'll use my badness against criminals instead. Who knows it might be more fun."

"You'd be surprised how much fun it can be at times."

"And other times it's painful and sucks. I've heard some crazy rumors about what has been going on here since I left prison. Like another Speedster running around town."

"Not anymore. I sent him back to his home timeline tonight. Which sucks because he still gets to go back in time to kill my mother at some point."

"I thought that Speedster was dead."

"Ya that's the thing with timelines. Eddie was a direct descendent of the Reverse Flash. When he killed himself he killed that Reverse Flash, the one that came here to kill my younger self, but got stuck here when he lost his speed. The Reverse Flash that came here again was one that hadn't traveled back in time to kill my younger self. So he never lost his speed from the fight and the journey through the speed cannon. So he was a Reverse Flash from the future, but not as far into the future as the one that died."

"But wouldn't it stand to reason that when Eddie killed himself he would have killed off anyone in his future family tree that he was a direct result of?" Snart asked slightly confused. He was a genius, but even he was having a hard time getting his mind around this one.

"Ya you would think right? We all did. I mean it makes sense that a version of Eddie from the past could come through into this time line because he was never killed. We all thought that anyone connected to Eddie directly in the future wouldn't be born and thus erasing the Revers Flash. But according to the new Dr. Wells, anyone in the future runs on a different time string so the Reverse Flash that never time traveled is still alive at least until he becomes the age of when he time travels back to kill my younger self."

"How did he get here?"

"He went through one of the breaches after the singularity and ended up here. It was a mistake."

"We'll have to come back to that one. What happens in the future if the Reverse Flash doesn't travel back in time to kill your younger self now that he's been here?"

"I have no idea. I didn't even think about that honestly. Maybe my future self will make sure he does go back. I don't know. There are a lot of things I have to figure out that is not one of them right now." Barry said and Snart could hear the overwhelmed tone in his voice.

"Come on, I'll buy you a coffee and you can explain what the hell these breaches are. Seems I've missed out on a lot of what has been happening here."

"Why do you care?" Barry asked with genuine interest and curiosity.

"I live here. It is important to know exactly what is going on in the city you live in. Plus I've always been curious and like learning new things. What's wrong Barry afraid to be seen with me?" Snart said with a smirk.

"Ah screw it this night can't get any weirder than it already has." Barry said as he got down from the edge wall and followed Snart through the rooftop door and down the stairs to the elevator.

Once inside the elevator Barry spoke.

"So you're really renovating this place? Like the whole place?"

"Most of it. There's twenty floors, three of them will be the night club, six of them will be Lisa's, Mick's and my condo. That leaves thirteen floors for shops and office space. A lot of the floors are completely empty and won't take much work to divide up. I have a list of companies that want to rent the space from me. It's going to be a very profitable business." Snart said with a smile.

"Just how much money did you get from that last job? You bought this place outright I'm assuming plus the renovation costs." Barry said trying to figure it out in his head.

"Nine figures." Snart said with a cool voice filled with pride.

"Wait what? Nine figures? Like a hundred million dollars?" Barry asked shocked.

"One hundred and five million technically."

"What the hell did you steal?" Barry couldn't help but ask.

"Something very valuable and before you start your speech about doing good in the world. I stole something very valuable back from a thief who stole it from a very well-known family. The heir wanted me to steal it back and he paid me very well in more than one way to make for one very memorial night." Snart said with a pleased smile.

"You just said he though." Barry said confused as they got off the elevator and down the hallway to the front door.

"I did. You have a problem with bi-sexuals Red?" Snart teased.

"What me? No, no, not at all. No whatever makes you happy that's totally your own business." Barry said with slight panic to his voice.

"Relax Red I was only teasing. But the night was a lot of fun." Snart said as he got on his black motorcycle.

"You drive a motorcycle?"

"Why does that surprise you? Hop on Red." Snart said as he held out his helmet to Barry

"Ya alright." Barry said and it was clear he wasn't too sure about this, but he couldn't bring himself to argue.

Barry put the helmet on before he got onto the back of the motorcycle and loosely placed his hands on Snart's rib cage. Snart grabbed Barry's hands and moved them so they were wrapped around his waist bringing Barry closer to his back.

"Hold tight." Snart said as he turned his bike on and they took off.

The speed that they took off on forced Barry to hold on tighter than he originally was, otherwise he would have fallen off. Barry had never been on a motorcycle before and he found himself enjoying it a lot more than he thought he would. He always thought being on a motorcycle was too dangerous and not something he wanted to experience. Yet being on the back of this motorcycle right now there was something freeing about the feeling of it. They stopped outside of an all night diner and once the bike was stopped Barry got off followed by Snart. They headed inside and over to a booth and sat down. The waitress came over and they both put in their coffee order before Snart spoke.

"Alright, from the beginning now."

"Like the day I was born beginning or more recent?" Barry tried to joke.

"The day the man in the red was born how about that. I get the feeling there is a lot that I have missed out on."

"There is, but why the interest? You might not be robbing people anymore but that doesn't mean that you're on the side of good."

"Maybe not, but this is still my home. It doesn't hurt you anything to tell me what has been going on that I don't know about. You look like you could use someone to talk about it. Someone outside of the circle of your friends and family that you think telling them certain things would make you appear weak or disappointing. Am I close?" Snart said with a knowing smirk.

The waitress came over and placed their coffees down and Barry thanked her while Snart gave a nod of thanks. She walked away and Barry spoke.

"You've always made it hard to hide something from you."

"I'm observant. If I wasn't I would have been dead a long time ago. So talk Barry and maybe you'll feel better for it in the end." Snart said calmly.

Barry let out a deep breath before he spoke.

"When I was eleven as I'm sure you know my Dad was arrested for killing my Mom."

"By Detective West. You were there but claimed he was innocent. That lightening attacked her."

"Right, but no one believed me. What happened that night was Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, was fighting the future me in the right time line. He wanted to kill the younger me so while fighting he used our combined speed to travel back in time to that night, but the older me followed. The older me got my younger self out of there and down the street, but it was too late for my mother. That screwed up the timeline and the older me disappeared basically, but now my life would turn out differently and without my older self the Reverse Flash couldn't get back to his timeline."

"Why couldn't he?"

"He didn't get his speed the same way that I did. In the future, Dr. Wells created the particle accelerator and when it failed I still got hit with lightening and became the Flash, but I was older and my Mom and Dad were around. Iris and me even get married in that time line. Thawne created his speed through tachyons and had to charge himself basically through them to keep his speed up. When he got stuck here and killed my Mom it made the future me disappear and without me he couldn't piggy back through the time cannon and get back to his time frame."

"Ok and he did what exactly after that?"

"He went and found this time frame's Dr. Wells and caused the car crash that killed his fiancé and killed him. He then took over Dr. Well's appearance and life. He built the particle accelerator, which he could do because he was from a time period where one was already built. He made sure it wouldn't work and the lightening would hit me just like it did in his time frame. He had to use the wheelchair after the attack to start saving his speed and building it up. He then trained me to get me fast enough to the point where I would be able to send him back."

"But he was helpful to you. Helped you save innocent lives."

"He was. We never saw it coming. Turns out in the future time line he wanted to be like me. He idolized me and worked to create his speed, but then something happened. What I don't know because that idolization turned into hatred and we became enemies. He wanted to destroy my life. Even seeing me growing up didn't change that. When we finally figured it out it took some help to stop him and get him into the pipe line which we turned into prison cells before Iron Heights made their own wing for Metahumans."

"He got jealous when he couldn't be the Flash. A copy is only that, a copy and never as good at the original. His short comings turned into anger towards you."

"Pretty much."

"But he died you said when Detective Thawne killed himself. How did that happen?"

"The Reverse Flash told me I could go back and save my Mom from dying. On the condition that I send him back home to his time line, something he's wanted the whole time. I thought about it and everyone told me to do it, that I had to do it. So Cisco and Ronnie built a space ship time machine type of thing. That would allow Thawne the ability to travel through the time cannon and navigate his way back home. The problem was I couldn't run fast enough to travel that far back and open the worm hole that was needed to travel back in time. We had to turn on the particle accelerator and release one hydrogen particle. I had to run fast enough and at the right velocity I had to collide with the particle. If done right it would create a wormhole where I could travel through the time cannon and go back as far as I want. Thawne would be able to fly into it and go back home. I only had two minutes to stop Thawne from killing my mother otherwise a black hole would appear and destroy basically the world."

"A black hole did appear above the city. I know that much."

"Ya it did, but not from the worm hole. When I went back I was there just in time to see the Reverse Flash and my future self fighting. I was going to stop my Mom from dying, but my future self saw me and shock his head and I put my back to the door and heard my Mom being killed. When everything went quiet I went into the room and removed my hood. I held her hand while she died and then I went back into the present. The wormhole closed trapping Thawne here. He was about to kill me when Eddie shot himself in the heart."

"Effectively dying and killing off the Reserve Flash in the process. That's what caused the black hole to appear."

"Ya. By Eddie killing himself with Thawne in this time line it erased him from existence at least we thought it did. Turns out it only erased that time line Thawne. But because it happened here in this time line over decades into the future it screwed with the time balance. Causing the singularity, the black hole, to appear as it basically ruptured this huge whole in the timeline and it needed to correct itself. The only way it could do that was to destroy everything basically."

"Wait go back. Eobard Thawne was a direct descendent of Detective Thawne?"

"Right."

"And when does your future self go missing?"

"Ten years from now based on the article we saw in the time vault."

"Which is?"

"A room that Thawne had created when he built Star Labs. It holds his yellow suit and Gideon and AI that apparently I created in the future. She showed us the article from the paper that I disappear in a lightening storm ten years from now. That's how I knew I married Iris it was written by her and she had my last name."

"So ten years from now you were supposed to have fought the Reserve Flash and you both disappeared when you went back in time. You disappeared because the timeline had changed of how you come about. But then how is the Reverse Flash a descendent from the Detective? Ten years from now assuming he had a kid yesterday, the kid wouldn't even be ten years old."

"We have no idea how that works. The best we can do is make assumptions that Thawne traveled back into the future time line to battle me to kill me for something I do to him in his future timeline that makes Eddie his great, great something. It's why when Eddie killed himself it caused such a huge problem because of all the descendants after him that would never be born messing up decades of a future that had already been planned out and lived. If he had killed himself in that time line the black hole would have appeared there and not in this time line. How for sure the Reverse Flash and me met originally we don't really know, because even if you say Eddie was Thawne's great, great grandfather or even great grandfather we're basically the same age. I would be too old to be out running around and fighting assuming I would still be alive. It's something we don't actually know yet."

"Could it be possible that you don't age? Your cells regenerate at a rapid pace it's how you heal so fast and you don't get sick."

"It's possible. It's not something we can run tests on. There's a lot that we don't know about what my speed will do to me. It's kind of a waiting game really."

"Let me ask you this. Why didn't you save your Mom?" Snart asked with genuine interest, because if it was him he would have.

"You know I ask myself that a lot. I didn't know what I should do before I even went through the worm hole. My whole life since I was eleven was about freeing my Dad and when I got my speed I wanted to save my Mom. That I could go back and save her life and keep my Dad out of prison. When I got there and my future self shook his head I listened. I had to trust that my future self knew what was best and knew what ramifications it would bring. So I listened. I think about that decision every day. I'm happy with my life, I am. Some days are harder than others, but I'm happy. Maybe the life I was supposed to have with my parents would have been different. In ten years from now in that time line I was still the Flash so it was going to happen eventually. It's what would be different that makes me wonder if I did the right thing."

"Such as?"

"Iris and me would be in a relationship possibly. We wouldn't have grown up in the same house. My Mom would obviously be alive and my Dad would never have spent over a decade in prison, loosing his license. I might have had a real chance at having a normal life before it changed for me to be the Flash."

"Sounds like all the more reason to have saved her."

"Ya, but then what about Cisco and Caitlin? Maybe they would have started to work in Star Labs when the real Dr. Wells built it like he did in the original time line. But what about the people I've saved? The criminals I've put away before they could hurt someone? What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Here we are sitting here in some diner drinking coffee and having a civil conversation. Would this be happening right now if I wasn't the Flash? We never would have crossed paths most likely. Would you have wanted to go legitimate and get your high school diploma to make sure your sister didn't end up in prison or killed? If you hadn't met me would you have done it?" Barry asked with genuine interest.

"Hard to say, but not likely. You're the first person to ever see anything good in me. Ever believed I could be more. I don't like playing the what if game. I was just curious why you chose not to save your mother."

"Would you have done it?"

"Don't know. My sister, definitely would have, but my Mother." Snart said as he gave a shrug before he continued. "I never knew my Mother. I just know she was some heroin addicted hooker my Father was sleeping with in exchange for her not going to jail. He had a habit of doing that. Same as Lisa's mother."

"You guys don't have the same mom?" Barry asked slightly surprised.

"Nope. Just two hookers that didn't want to raise the baby. We never bothered with the whole half-sibling thing. She was my baby sister and that's all that mattered to either of us. I raised her, I'd do anything for her. So if it had been her in that room I would have saved her no matter the consequences, but a sibling is different than a parent."

"Ya that's true. Because if it had been Iris I probably would have saved her. Does that make me a bad person that I would save my friend and not my own mother?" Barry asked with worry in his voice.

"No it makes you human Red." Snart said calmly.

"Ya well sometimes being human sucks." Barry said slightly sad.

"Ya it really can. What's this other thing you were talking about? These breaches?" Snart asked looking to get Barry back on track and not thinking about his mother.

"Ah ya so the singularity created these portals basically, we call them breaches because Metahumans have been coming through them and we call them Breachers."

"Coming from where? A different time line?"

"I different universe actually. We call it Earth 2. There is literally a whole other Earth in a parallel universe. The same people that are here they have over there, but their personalities tend to be different. Not crazy different but a few things are off about them. Um we've come across a few of them already and they tend to kill their doppelganger before they start killing people here. Their doppelganger here tend to be good people and over on Earth 2 they are Metahumans and evil. One wasn't too bad actually. Linda Park my ex-girlfriend her Earth 2 came here, Dr. Light. She worked for Zoom and was sent here to kill me. She used concentrated light beams in her hands as weapons she created. It shot out light beams and could kill someone. She had never killed anyone even on her Earth until she got here and killed someone by accident. We had captured her and she said she would help us catch Zoom, but then she broke out and took off."

"And Zoom would be?"

"Another Speedster. He steals the speed force within people. On Earth 2 he's the super villain. Jay Garrick was the Flash on Earth 2. He was the one that got hit from the particle accelerator. He had been fighting with Zoom who got his power to steal the speed force from the particle accelerator explosion. Zoom stole his speed and he came through the portals in hope that I would be able to fight Zoom and save Earth 2."

"Let me get this straight. There is another Earth?" Snart said still shocked by that point.

"Ya it's a lot to get your head around. It took us a while. We're still amazed actually."

"Alright so you have other dangerous Metahumans coming through the breaches all to kill you."

"Ya Zoom has been sending in some of the more dangerous ones. He wants my speed and with it he would then be the only Speedster at least that we know of. Dr. Wells"

"I thought he was dead?" Snart interrupted.

"No the actual Dr. Wells from Earth 2, who by the way still owns and created Star Labs. He's more of an ass though or maybe the real Dr. Wells always was an ass we'll never know. He came through one of the breaches, one of fifty-two of them, his daughter was kidnapped by Zoom and he was hoping I would be able to help him get her back. That was a couple months ago and we haven't been able to stop Zoom yet or close the breaches."

"Mardon said something about you being injured during the month I was in prison."

"Ya Zoom did it. He broke my back and kicked my ass. I couldn't even feel my legs for a while and I had to use the wheelchair until my body healed and I could walk. Even then it took me a little bit to get my speed back fully. I'm fine now it just took a while to get there."

"So that is what has been troubling you."

"No I'm over what happened to me. It's not the first time I've been injured and it won't be the last." Barry said dismissively.

"No not that." Snart said slowly with the purr in his voice as always.

"What then?"

"Don't play dumb now Red. Before you had one Earth on your shoulders you were carrying around and now you are putting a completely other Earth on your shoulders. You feel bad that you can't stop Zoom from hurting people on a completely different Earth. You can't take that on yourself. You are not responsible for the lives over there or for the ones that Zoom kills." Snart said in a serious voice.

"I know that, but I don't feel that way. If I could just get fast enough I could beat him, but everything I try and do just doesn't seem to work. I can't get fast enough. Every day I see Dr. Wells and Jay I'm reminded that they are stranded here. They came here looking for me and my help. They're counting on me and the longer this goes on for the greater the chances are that Dr. Wells' daughter will die. A lot of lives are counting on me and I can't beat him. I don't even know how I would be able to. I don't even know who he is. And tonight I had to send the man that killed my Mom back into his own time line because him being here was causing a rapture in the time line and it was killing Cisco. Then my girlfriend broke up with me because I didn't tell her I was the Flash and when she figured it out I still didn't admit to it because I don't want her getting hurt or killed because of me. So she left to go to school to become a CSI something she's always wanted to do."

"Too many cracks in the glass at one time." Snart said with understanding in his voice.

"Most days I can handle it. But tonight it was just too much at once. It was a slap of reality. This is going to be my life. And I know I chose it. I could have continued on being Barry Allen and not the Flash I know that. But I thought I could be both and now more and more it's looking like I can't be. I can't even have a normal relationship with someone because even if they found out I'm the Flash my enemies will always try and hurt them. Even with Joe, he found out that he has a son that is twenty. Now he's around and it's good for Joe and Iris, but it's also weird because we don't really get along. We don't fight but it's awkward like he thinks I'm this perfect son and he's the new one coming into the fold. Some days it just feels like who I am is getting swallowed up by being the Flash and some days it really doesn't bother me, but then some days I think about never putting on that suit again." Barry admitted honestly.

"It's natural to be feeling that way. You have to be two different people and live two different lives. You need to find the balance between the two or one of your lives will get swallowed whole. If you constantly put being the Flash first Barry Allen will be nothing more than a hollow shell of the man you are. You need a balance Red. Why haven't you talked with Detective West or any of your little friends about how you've been feeling?"

"Because I don't want them to be disappointed in me. I love being the Flash and helping people I really do. Helping people is why I became a CSI and being the Flash allows me to do that even more. How do you tell someone that is so proud of you that some days you don't know if you want this life? If you can handle this life? Sometimes it can be so lonely and I know that sounds crazy because I'm around people all the time but."

"It's different. Friends are not lovers. There's no intimate connection to take way the cold loneliness that fills you." Snart said with understanding in his voice.

"Ya. I love Patty, but she was already kidnapped because someone wanted to trap the Flash. I've let her down and disappointed her by being late or canceling dates. She doesn't deserve that and when I found out she got accepted into school for criminology I had no right to tell her to stay. To stay and be at risk and in danger of my enemies. I can't do that to her or to someone else that I love."

"Don't you think it should have been her choice? Your little pals all stay around to help you. You care for them and they have all been put in danger, yet still you allow them around you and to help. Shouldn't Patty have been given the same option?"

"I did push them all away. After the singularity I did do it on my own. They refused to let me after a while and they wouldn't leave. I understand what your point is I do. And ya if Patty had refused to leave for school and stay here then things would have been different. It would have been completely her choice just like my friends. But it wasn't like that. She was looking for me to tell her to stay and that's something I couldn't do. I couldn't do it if it was one of my friends looking for me to. It has to be their choice to stay or to leave. I can't force them and I don't want to try and manipulate them into staying. This life isn't easy and the chances of them getting hurt or worse dying goes up every time we face a new threat. No matter how much I want them to stay, want Patty to stay, I don't have the right to ask for them to." Barry explained sadly.

"You make a valid point Red. Still doesn't take the sting away though." Snart said with understanding.

"No it doesn't. And it doesn't change the situation that I am in now. I have no idea how to get fast enough to stop Zoom. Or how to close the breaches to stop these Earth 2 Meta-Humans from coming over here. Not to mention the new Dr. Wells' daughter is being help captive by Zoom. You know I thought things would get simpler the longer I do this for and yet it seems like it's only getting harder. More problems are coming up, more Meta-Humans that I can't seem to stop. It's…"

"Frustrating." Snart finished.

"Ya." Barry said sadly.

"You don't complete a puzzle in one go. You build it piece by piece until you have it completely put together. Starting with the outside boarder and work yourself over until you reach the middle and final piece."

"Final piece is Zoom. If I focus on the whole puzzle I'll never be able to get any of the piece together. But if I work on the easier pieces first I can build up to the harder ones." Barry said with understanding in his voice.

"Exactly."

"I need to get faster, I need to close the breaches, I need to free Dr. Wells' daughter and I need to stop Zoom."

"First two are easy, last two are hard."

"Cisco is trying to figure out how to close the breaches. Getting faster so far hasn't been easy."

"Did it ever cross your mind that getting faster isn't the way to defeat Zoom?"

"Ya but then what is? Going slower isn't going to work this time." Barry said with a small smirk.

"No, but say you do get faster than him, then what?"

"I capture him and put him in the pipeline or in Iron Heights."

"Where he will break out from. If I can do it then he can do it. You've never killed someone before, but has it at least crossed your mind that this time around you may actually have to make an exception?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I've been so focused on getting faster to catch up with him. I haven't even thought about the possibility that I might have to kill him. I didn't kill the Reverse Flash, Eddie did by killing himself. I don't know."

"You might have to start thinking about that, because it's going to come down to him or you in the end. He won't be captured and if he does it won't be for long. I would suggest that you figure out a way to close the breaches grab the brat and leave him there on Earth 2 forever. But I know you won't let a whole other Earth be trapped with him."

"They are people, innocent people for the most part. I can't leave them there to be slaughtered by that monster."

"Figured as much. There are other ways to slow down someone faster than you. He has the same weakness that you do and if you can figure out a way to use that to your advantage. You can make him slower."

"Absolute Zero. So if there is a way that Cisco can design something that I could use that Zoom couldn't see coming. Something that could freeze him and bring his speed down to my level. I might be able to capture him. If I can out fight him anyways. With us being at the same speed I'll have to be the better fighter. But that could work."

"Do you even know how to fight?"

"Joe taught me the basics. It wasn't really important after I got my speed. When I fight it's like the person is just standing still. Zoom won't be though so I'll need to work on it."

"Seems like you have the start of a plan then. This Dr. Wells from Earth 2, does he have any footage of Zoom fighting anyone?"

"I don't know maybe. Why?"

"Know your opponent Barry. If you see how he fights you can tell little things about him. You can pick up his tells like when he goes to throw a jab does he move left or right, does he tilt his shoulders. If you know how your opponent fights you'll have a stronger defense."

'I'll ask him. There was a Flash on Earth 2, Jay, but he's here on this Earth now. He came looking for me. I'll ask him he might be able to teach me some things about fighting Zoom. Thanks."

"Happy to help."

"That must be weird for you to say." Barry said with a smile.

"I've helped people before you know."

"That sounds like a story you have to share and one I would be very interested in."

"Not much to share. Just the random people I've come across."

"Come across doing what?"

"Guy attacking a girl in some back alley. Piece of shit father hitting his kid. Two things I don't stand for."

"Women and children being hurt. I would imagine after the childhood you and Lisa had that only became stronger." Barry said sympathetically.

"I don't talk about that." Snart said with an edge to his voice.

"I get that. If you ever wanted to I'll always listen. I owe you after this conversation." Barry said with a smirk.

"Never gonna happen, but I appreciate the offer. What's Ramon like?"

"He's a good guy. Why you worried about Lisa spending time with him?"

"I wouldn't be her brother if I wasn't."

"He's a really good guy you know that. He would never hurt her physically, he doesn't cheat, he's got a great career. What more could you ask for?"

"Oh I'm not concerned about her, it's him that would be hurt. My sister isn't known for relationships. It's difficult to pursue one when you don't know what a good relationship even looks like."

"A lot of people don't have experience with seeing what a good relationship looks like, they still manage to have good ones. If your sister did date someone she'll make some mistakes, but she'll learn from them. She might not know what a good relationship looks like, but she does know what a bad one looks like. She'll figure it out a lot better than you think. And with the right guy to start off with she'll get there."

"Ya or he'll do something to hurt her and I'll have to kill him." Snart said smoothly.

"Ok you can tell me to go to Hell if you want, but who was the first person you killed?" Barry asked with genuine curiosity.

"There's a personal question. We hardly know each other Barry."

"No I hardly know you, you know plenty about me." Barry stated back.

"Not anything that can't be found online. Anything more personal than that I know nothing." Snart argued back.

"Fair enough. Alright I can draw and sing."

"And you think that tidbit of information is going to get me to tell you about the first time I killed someone?" Snart said with a skeptic look on his face.

"Alright we'll come back to that one. But you still owe me a small piece of information for that."

"Fair enough. When I was twenty-five I rebuilt a car from scrap."

"What type of car?"

"An old sixty-nine mustang. Didn't even have wheels, just a shell covered in dents and rust. I got it for a hundred bucks and did the work myself."

"That's actually really cool. Where is it now? Did you sell it?"

"Nope. Sitting in a storage locker for now. Too noticeable to be using during a crime."

"No kidding. Well maybe now that you are no longer living the life for crime you can take it for a spin."

"Might be time to dust it off."

"What about Mick? You and Lisa got out of that life, but he doesn't seem like the type that wants out."

"First only Lisa and me can call him Mick. To everyone else he's Rory. The last guy that called him Mick got turned into ash." Snart warned.

"Ouch. Ok and second?"

"Second I don't know. He understood when I told him we were out of the game. We have known each other since I was fourteen and he was seventeen. It's been a long time, too long to let something like this cause a riff. He's family. He doesn't have to be out of the game just because I am. He'll have my back and I will still have his no matter what."

"I get the feeling that if he got arrested you would bust him out." Barry said with a friendly smile.

"It wouldn't be the first time." Snart said with a smirk.

"Why him? You've worked with other guys before, but none of them ever stuck. Why this strong connection to Rory?" Barry asked as he had wondered about that for a long time now.

"That is a story I will tell you, vaguely anyways. I was fourteen and it was my first time in Juvi. Long story. I was small, the smallest kid in the joint by far and some of the older boys wanted to make sure I knew that. I knew my place. It didn't help that my father was a former cop and the guards didn't like me for that. One day I was walking down the hallway and these five guys jump me. I fought back, but I had never been in a fight. I didn't know how. I tried my best, but one of them pulled out a shiv and I thought this was it. I was going to die. Until Mick stepped in and nobody messed with me after that."

"He protected you, saved your life. Why? He doesn't come across as the type to jump in."

"He's more than he lets people see. He didn't like that I was being attacked like that. One on one it would have been my problem, but getting jumped by five guys all older ad bigger than me. He wasn't going to walk away and pretend it wasn't happening. He's been protecting me ever since."

"You've been protecting him ever since. He's the muscle and you're the brain that was made very clear during our encounters. He fights and you make sure you both get out alive and not in jail. You turned the partnership into a brotherhood."

"We kept in touch when we both got out. He taught me how to fight, I taught him how not to get caught. When he did I broke him out. The three of us are family and that's not about to change no matter what."

"You said there is more to Rory than he lets people see. You know what I think? I think there is a lot more to you than you let people see. I think it's easier for you to be Captain Cold, the criminal mastermind than to be Leonard Snart. Intelligent man from a bad past. Someone that is filled with emotions, that's warm and afraid of letting people get close at risk of being hurt. It's really easy to be Captain Cold and I think you are finally embracing who you truly are. And I can honestly say I'm curious to see exactly who Leonard Snart is, because I have a very strong feeling he's a good man when given the chance." Barry said honestly.

"Ya well I prefer the easier road."

"But Lisa." Barry said with understanding in his voice.

"But Lisa has a real chance of never being in jail. Of finding a good man, getting married and having children. My father took that from me a long time ago and I won't be the one that takes that from her. Even if that means I have to take the hard road."

"And that is why I believe you are a good man underneath the surface. I know you've had a hard life, a hard childhood. I had something tragic and traumatizing happen to me. The only difference between us is that I had a safe place to go when it was over. I had Joe take me in. You didn't have anyone to free you from that tragedy. If you did you might have turned out like you were always mean to and I could have been the criminal if I didn't have Joe. I really do hope this works out for you. You deserve this chance and that is something I never thought I would say." Barry said with a smile.

Snart couldn't help, but smile back. "Life has a way of putting certain people together. I was meant to find Mick that day in Juvi. Maybe I was meant to come across you Barry. Only time will tell."

"Ya it will and hopefully we both don't regret this conversation."

"Oh this conversation never happened." Snart lightly joked.

Barry couldn't help the small chuckle at that. "Does that mean I can't come by and see how the progress is going on your building?"

"I suppose you could if you ever need a rooftop to hide out on."

"I'll remember that." Barry said with a smile.

Snart checked the clock that was on the wall in the diner before he spoke. "Better get you home before Detective West starts to wonder where you are."

"Ya I got work in the morning. Thankfully with my speed I don't get tired that easily."

"Makes it easier to hide that you have been up all night fighting crime."

"Really does. But there's cons too, like not being able to get drunk."

"Makes sense your metabolism burns through it too fast. That's gotta suck."

"Really does some days. Caitlin tried to make some, but it only lasted five seconds." Barry said as they got up from the booth and headed out of the diner.

"You want a ride back or do you need the run?" Snart asked as they walked over to his bike.

"Don't really need the run, but if Joe catches me on the back of your bike pulling up to the house. It's going to be a long night." Barry said with a smile.

"I can be a bad influence." Snart said with a smirk.

"Ya but you can also be a good influence. You got your sister to get her high school diploma and thinking about College. You're a good brother Leonard."

"I try. You ever want to learn how to really fight come by the house. 1388 Fifth Ave." Snart said as he got onto his bike and picked up his helmet.

"Oh so you're gonna teach me how to fight eh? Okay I might take you up on that." Barry said with a smile.

"See you around Red." Snart said as he put on his helmet.

"See you around Leonard." Barry said back before he took off.

Snart shook his head before he turned his bike on and headed back to his house. Tonight had been weird, but it was also good. Snart didn't know what to think of that and for now he wouldn't think much of it at all. Tomorrow was another day and he had a lot of work he needed to do to get the building up and running. Being legitimate was turning into a lot of work, but Snart was hoping it would be worth it if he could give Lisa a better chance on a good life. There was only one person he cared about fully in this world and that was his little sister. He was going to do this for her no matter what.


	2. Follow Me- Update

Hello there!

I have begun a collection of new books for all ages from children's picture books to adult series that are being published online. You can connect with me and find out more information through my social media pages. I am working on finishing my novel called Satanic Inferno. It will be published through Kobo on March 1st, 2017. Check out my Facebook page for more information and a 10% discount code for the first few days of the release.

You have all followed me on Fanfiction and I am hoping you will continue to follow me now that I have transitioned into writing and publishing my own novels. But fear not I am still going to be working on Fanfiction and finishing all of my stories. I'm not going anywhere in that sense. All support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank-you so much to all of my loyal followers. Without you none of this would have been possible! If you have any questions or would like a sneak peek of my novel please Message me and I will send it your way.

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